Use of commercial operational amplifiers in a low cost multi-channel preamplifier system

We report on a simple, compact-size and cost-effective multi-channel charge-sensitive preamplifier system using the commercial IC operational amplifiers. An energy resolution of 5.6% at 511 keV is achieved with a large size (10×10×1 mm3) planar CdTe detector. The system is well suited for use with the compound semiconductor detectors in the applications in which the rather high power consumption of the system (320 mW per channel) can be tolerated.

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► A suitable operational amplifier for the preamplifier stage of radiation detectors is described.
► Several operational amplifiers are tested for the preamplifier stage.
► The performance of a preamplifier for use with CdTe detectors is described.